


And the Sky Looks Very Different from Here

by NannaSally



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9417764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NannaSally/pseuds/NannaSally
Summary: why am I in a hot air balloom?





	

I am up high

Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down….

At least I am not alone. Rugged up warm against the cold of the upper atmosphere my companions?

A large, youngish woman with a demented grin – she is obviously enjoying herself immensely.

A middle aged man in fine shape, with sleek dark hair, clean shaven, and a look of competence – he seems to be in charge. I will definitely keep an eye on him for notes of what to do/how to react. I feel like I will be Safe With Him.

A young girl who is excited, but also a bit scared at the same time, which seems appropriate.

A rabbit – wearing a – yes – parachute.

That seems like everyone.

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD..

‘Excuse me, how did I get here?’

‘I see you have stopped babbling now. I can actually understand you.’

‘Oh good…How did I get here?’

‘Now don’t look over the edge again until you feel more stable.’

‘OK ..How did I GET HERE?????’

‘Oh. Well you were waiting when the groundcrew and I arrived, with a ticket prepaid, and a beatific smile on your face. I assumed you wanted to be here, so we helped you in and off we went.’

‘OK,   HOW DID I GET HERE???????????????????????????????????????’

‘I don’t know what else to tell you.  Calm down, CALM DOWN. Stop rocking the basket.  Let me go. Let go of me. I can’t  control the balloon if you keep hanging on to me.’

‘Here, drink this’ said the demented girl.

I gulped – and gasped ‘oh my..’

‘Thank God, she let go’ said the man.

As I recovered from the rather strong spirits, the demented girl introduced herself – I really needed to stop calling her that.

‘Hi I’m Jennifer isn’t this amazing aren’t you glad you’re here have you ever seen anything like it don’t you want to drink it all in I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life for this.’ Yes, she talked without punctuation, with barely a breath. But it gave me something to focus on that was not Down There.

When she finally stopped I got a word in, ‘Hi, I think I’m Alice. At least I was Alice the last time I was in my right mind.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well if I was in my right mind, I would not be here, off the ground, in an openweave basket, below a fragile envelope OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD..’ and more like that. I curled into a ball and continued to sob Oh God for a what seemed like an age.

‘Have another drink’

I cooperated, it seemed the thing to do. Not such a shock this time and I finished the glass – but there was a strange after taste.

‘What was that?’

‘Oh, just a little something Max here added to the mix. It’s a calmative. You should feel better soon.’

Shortly, I began to feel the relaxation take over – started in my stomache and moved out towards my extremities. My mind began to think more clearly, then fuzzily – which was actually better than panic.

I sat up. ‘Wow, good calmative.’

Max smiled knowingly. ‘I use it for many of my newbies. I mean new clients.’

‘Whatever it is , don’t lose the recipe.’ I hoped I was not slurring, but I was pretty sure my speech had slowed. And the need to sob had definitely reduced to a whisper at the back of my mind. I would ignore that for now.

In the wall of the basket, at about level with my head when I sat up, there was a gap, like a handle space, or perhaps a little window. I risked a peek. That was ok – but then my view was greatly restricted, not up or down just straight ahead and I could see very little.

Above me it is blue, blue, bluer… richer. Somehow, you would think that as the sky got nearer it would be lighter but it is darker in the middle, light around the edges. So near I could almost touch it. Funny, isn’t it, we call a mid blue paint ‘sky blue’ but really it is much more varied than that.

Clouds are below, I remember how we passed through them. They were not soft and fluffy, just damp and misty – a blessing really because below them is…below.

Once you get to a certain height, the panic passes because it is just surreal – how could that be ‘home’ down there? the perspective change has made THAT the unreal bit, and up here reality – at least for today.

I have always said I hate heights. I don’t know how they got me in here, but here I am. And I still don’t know how I got here.


End file.
